Haiti after Matthew: 'This is an absolutely shocking crisis'--October 9, 2016
October 09, 2016
Haiti after Matthew: 'This is an absolutely shocking crisis'
Credit: Kevin Melanson
Dr. John Carroll sends a text message and photo he received this morning from Dr. Vince Degennaro, on the ground in Haiti:
Update from Les Anglais: 08oct206
Today was a very difficult day. We have shared some very disturbing photos that we would not normally share but we would like you to see this from our eyes as much as possible. No one has put boots down on the ground anywhere between Port Salut and Jeremie. The US military flew us by helicopter to Les Anglais, a commune of 40,575 people west of Port Salut. We landed and the military took off to do further reconnaissance. We were requested to take all our gear in the unlikely event they could not make it back. Our time on the ground was 90 minutes.
The situation we found there was absolutely horrific and much worse than we had thought, as there had been no reliable information from this area. We were met by several hundred people from the community including the mayor and the one doctor who was from Les Cayes. He has not heard anything about his family in Les Cayes since the hurricane.
There are 179 reported deaths and at least 700 hundred injured, some seriously. These numbers only include the center of town. There are only 82 standing homes out of 4,000. People are sleeping outside. The hospital has had significant destruction and patient are in places with debris, fallen cement and wires. We saw many patients with significant wounds. The medication supply has dwindled and the shelves of medications are virtually bare with not even gauze or bandages left. They have had 25 cases of cholera and 5 deaths since Tuesday including a man who was brought in dead while we were there. There is a little boy with cholera who had been orphaned by the hurricane and very painfully close to death. They are completely cut off from any road access by 4 collapsed bridges.
There is no clean water. Everyone is now drinking contaminated water, the infants, children, everyone. The crops of millet, corn. legumes, sweet potatoes were destroyed. The food they were able to protect from the storm was brought out and put in the sun to dry but quickly spoiled. There is no food. No electricity. No communication.
We also learned today from flyovers that this is the same situation for the entire area from Port Salut to Jeremie. No water, extreme hunger/no food, no shelter, and people dying from a lack of basic healthcare as no one can get to them by road. This is an absolutely shocking crisis and based on our contact with a whole host of actors here on the ground, it doesn’t seem like there is a plan to get food, water, and healthcare to these thousands of stranded people anytime soon.
We are not sure why it has taken this long to realize these people are isolated and without anything, but we know now and must share this story with anyone who can help.
—
John A. Carroll, MD
www.haitianhearts.org